Angèle Arsenault wrote this back in 1977, and I haven’t been able to find a translation that I really liked. So I had to do it myself. It’s from her album Libre (SPPS Disques, PS-19903) and was my first introduction to Acadia.

I’m going to talk to you of someone that you know
Yes but don’t deceive yourself, she did not come from the States
Even if a certain fellow who was called Longfellow
Popularized her two hundred years ago
She was called Évangéline, she was very very fine
She loved Gabriel on earth as if in heaven
They lived in Acadia, they were damned rich1
But one day the English were no longer satisfied
So they deported them, Gabriel disappeared
Discouraged2 Évangéline searched for him as long as she could
She searched for him in Acadia in Quebec in Ontario
Then in the United States in Florida in Idaho
Arriving in Louisiana with her cousin Diane
She said I have lost my time3
She was 75 years old4
Working a the hospital, she cared for the sick
Then she saw her Gabriel who was leaving for heaven
She jumped on his neck
And said thank you very much
At the hour that you’re interred I will be able to return
I’m going to invest in the companies of the future
So that the name of Évangéline will be bloody well known5